stoikiometríum

Stoikiometry is a fundamental concept in chemistry that deals with the quantitative relationships between reactants and products in a chemical reaction. It is based on the law of conservation of mass, which states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction. Stoichiometry allows chemists to predict the amount of product that can be formed from a given amount of reactant, or the amount of reactant needed to produce a desired amount of product.

The foundation of stoichiometric calculations lies in the balanced chemical equation. A balanced equation represents the relative number of moles of each substance involved in the reaction. These numerical coefficients, known as stoichiometric coefficients, are crucial for establishing mole ratios. For example, in the reaction 2 H₂ + O₂ → 2 H₂O, the coefficients indicate that two moles of hydrogen react with one mole of oxygen to produce two moles of water.

Using these mole ratios, chemists can convert between the amounts of different substances in a reaction. This often involves converting given masses into moles, using the mole ratios from the balanced equation to find the moles of the desired substance, and then converting those moles back into mass. Stoichiometry is essential for a wide range of applications, including chemical synthesis, industrial processes, and laboratory analysis, ensuring efficient and predictable chemical transformations.